To usher in the new paradigm of personalized medicine we will need to travel a perilous path. Much like the route through the Himalayas it has punished the naive and self-reliant. That is why I have dedicated my life to being a Gene Sherpa. What is a gene sherpa? The Sherpa speaks the language of the trail, he/she knows short cuts and dangerous paths to avoid. This blog is for those wishing to take the journey and those wishing to become Gene Sherpas.

Wednesday, April 9, 2008

I just got out of a meeting with a Very Nice Angel Investor. He had some really interesting ideas that I am dying to tell you about....but I just can't.....for now.

But what I can do is now tell you about how sad I am that I missed "Navigenics 2008 Opening Day" I don't know who was pitching...but from what I heard it was a success. Speaking of success, I just had another patient come to me with the magic 84 page printout. It will be interesting to see how the Mayo study comes out regarding all of these lab reports and patient comprehension. A few days ago a patient was seen by us for Pharmacogenomic analysis and he was puzzled by the laboratory reports and data. He actually thought that the boiler plate information on the bottom of the report was actually personalized. He asked "If I only have 2 copies of this, then why does it have 9 different types on my report?" I kindly reported that it was the boilerplate explaining all of the poor metabolizing alleles. Of which this patient had 2. Yes reading lab reports can even be tricky for physicians. Think it has changed since the 90s? Dream on!

It is no surprise that genetic counselors are on staff at Navigenics. It is the right thing to do....but how many genetic counselors know what CYP 450 is? Oh I mean what CYP 450 are. How in the world can we reconcile this? Even better question....how may physicians know what CYP 450 are? But there is a new hope. An institution being set up by myself and others. We are currently looking for donors and we endeavor to set up educational events and group sessions. We will work with Corporate Genomics, Academic Genetics, Corporate Labs, Academic Medicine to develop training workshops. Interested???? Email me.

This type of education is the future. We need to walk patients and physicians through reports, through taking family histories, through medications....together. Preferably face to face or television to television. It is my belief that we cannot do this through a scalable 84 page report....or a Flash'd/XML'd out site. No amount of money will replace the human element. So we need to train more Sherpas....and I am looking for funding to do it.

The Sherpa Says:

I am headed to SoHo tonight. Maybe they will have a million or two lying around???? After all, this is a new industry ;)

Disclaimer (Update 11 August 2008)

All health information, identifying information, that is provided to me will be maintained in the strictest of confidences, unless otherwise indicated in writing by the patient. We undertake to honor or exceed the legal requirements of medical information privacy that apply in the country and state where this Web site and mirror sites are located. Please do not post this information in comments as they will not be allowed.

This site is not funded by any outside interest and reflects the sole opinions of Dr. Steven A. R. Murphy, MD. Unless needed to maintain operations this blog will not post advertising of any kind.

The information found on the website is designed to support, not to replace the relationship between patient/physician. The information published here is not a medical consultation nor should it be construed as a medical consultation.

If you wish to have a medical consultation, then please contact my medical offices by telephone at 203-721-6170 or by email at reception@greenwichdocs.com .